Improvement in revolving fire-arms



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE SYLVESTER H. ROPER, OF ROXBURY,MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Spccifie tion forming part of Letters Patent No. 53,881, dated April 10,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, SYLVESTER H. ROPER,

of Roxbury, county of Norfolk, and State of Massachusetts,have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading and RepeatingFire-Arms and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescrip tion thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of refer ence marked thereon.

The fire-arm to which my invention relates is adapted to the use of thewellknown metallic flanged cartridge primed with percussion fulminate atits base.

The nature of my invention consists in the combination of a revolvingcartridge carrier or magazine, located at the rear end of the barrel,with a piston, which at each stroke of the hammer pushes forward acartridge into the barrel, and there explodes it, the said piston at thesame time serving as a breech-plug to close the rear end of the barreland receive the recoil; and in appropriate mechanism to carry thisleading feature of my invention into effect.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinalsection of that portion of the gun which contains the lock, the revolving carrier, and the rear end of the barrel, the hammer being down, aswhen the gun is discharged. Fig. 2 is a similar section, showing thehammer drawn back to a full cock. Fig. 3 is a view of the piston orbreech-plug, the head of the hammer, and the link which con nects them.Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the revolving carrier, andFig. 5 is a rearend View of the same.

A is the breech-piece or frame which carries the lock, the front endbeing cylindrical, and forming the rear end of the cylindrical chamberwhich contains the revolving carrier. B is a cylindrical case, withinwhich the carrier revolves, and which is screwed to the frontcylindrical end of the breech-piece at :10. G is a section of thebarrel, screwed to the cylindrical case at y. D is the revolvingcarrier, with the rear end of its axis D extending through the frontcylindrical end of the breech-piece A, and having a ratchet-wheel, E, onits rear end. The rear journal, on which this ratchetwheel, with therevolving carrier, turns, has its bearing in a plug or stud at the rearend of the bore, in which the axis D and the ratchet-wheel E areinserted, covering said bore in the rear.

F is the hammer; G, the piston or breechplug, and G a link connectingthe piston with the head of the hammer. H is a double-act ing spring,the front end of which, moving in a narrow slot formed by cutting awaythe side of the plug or stud immediately in the rear of theratchetwheel, acts upon said ratchet to move the revolving carrierone-eighth of a revolution whenever the hammer is drawn back to afull-cock, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. I is themainspring, which actuates the hammer. Each end of this spring isconnected with the foot of the hammer by means of a separate stirrup, (tand a, and

these stirrups are so connected with the foot of the hammer that theirconnectingpoints are at right angles to each other in respect to thecenter-pin, on which the hammer turns. The forward stirrup, a, isattached to the foot of the hammer at a greater distance from thecenter-pin than the rear one, and so attached and arranged that thespring acts upon the greatest leverage as the hammer is just finishingits stroke, so that the hammer moves with an increasing velocity fromthe beginning to the end of its stroke. These two stirrups, conneetingeach end of the muinspring with the hammer, as aforesaid, tend to lessenthe friction on the center-pin.

The revolving carrier is somewhat similar in form and construction tothe revolving cylinder in an ordinary revolving fire-arm, except thatinstead of being bored with a series of chargechambers, it has a seriesof nearly semicircular grooves, as shown at b, Fig. 5, into which thecartridges may be inserted laterally.

The cylindrical case B holds the cartridges in their places, and it hasan opening in its upper side, through which they are inserted, with ahinged cover, 01, and a latch to fasten the cover when it is closeddown. On the under side of said cover is a spring, 6, which presseslightly on the cartridge to hold it steadily down in its bed and securethe effective action of the retracting-hook upon it, as well as toaccommodate the cover to any slight variations in size in the flanges ofthe cartridges.

The cylindrical case B has a round hole in its front end, immediately inrear of and in line with the barrel, through which the cartridge passeswhen it is pushed forward from its bed in the carrier to the barrel. Ithas a similar bore in its rear end, also in line with the barrel,extending back through the breechpiece A to the pointwhere the hammerstrikes, in which the piston moves.

The piston Gr has neatly dovetailed into it longitudinally apercussion'bar, 0, which is a little longer than the piston itself, thefront end of which, being driven against the flange of the cartridge bythe hammer as it completes its stroke, explodes the fuhninate.

The wings of the revolving carrier, which separate the cartridgechambers or beds, are beveled at their rear ends, so that in moving pastthe end of said percussion-bar they present to it inclined planes at nn, Fig. 5, and if coming in contact with it will slide the bar back soas to pass it freely.

The linkG, which connects the piston with the head of the hammer, iscomposed of a thin plate of steel, and its front portion is inserted ina central longitudinal and vertical slot in the rear end of the piston,to which it is pivoted at p. The rear end of said link is inserted in aslot in the hammers head, to which it is pivoted at 1*, this pivotpassing through an elongated hole or slot in the end of the link toallow the necessary play as it moves into line with the piston ordeparts therefrom.

The rear end of the piston is beveled on its lower side, as shown at '0,so that when the hammer is down, as shown in Fig. 1, the inclined plane2: of the piston, bearing against the inclined plane a of the hammershead, completely locks the hammer against the possibility of beingraised or thrown back by the recoil of the piston. The hammer is, infact, thus secured against the possibility of being thrown back by anyrecoil of the piston before it has completed its stroke, or from thetime that the said inclincd planes 2) and u come in contact or inopposition to each other.

The spring H is pivoted to the breech-piece or frame A at i, and therear end has a laterally-projecting head, which moves in an cecentricslot, 8, in the foot of the hammer, while the front end presseslaterally against the ratchet-wheel; but when the hammer is drawn backand the spring is in the position shown in Fig. 2, its front end is soconfined in the narrow space through which it passes that it cannot besprung laterally away from the ratchet. Hence the spring at each upwardmovement can move the ratehetwheel no farther than the spring itselfmoves, as the next tooth to the one upon which the spring acts cannotpass the end of the spring while it is so confined and kept close up tothe ratchet wheel by said narrow space; but said narrow space is soformed that as soon as the front end of the spring begins to descend ithas room to depart laterally from the ratchetwheel a sufficient distanceto pass over the inclined plane presented by the next tooth, and

it will then spring back into the proper position to engage with saidtooth on its next upward motion. As the hammer is drawn back the rearend of the spring is depressed by the eccentric slot or cam s in thefoot of the hammer, causing the front end to bear upward against atoothof the ratchetwhcel, which is prevented from revolving, however, so longas the piston remains in the groove of the carrier; but as soon as thepiston passes out of the groove the spring acts instantly upon theratchet, and throws the carrier forward until the next groove comes inline with the barrel. As the hammer descends the rear end of the springrises, causing its front end to fall below the ratchet and out of theway of its teeth.

A thumb-screw is set in the frame A, the position of which is shown inred lines at Z, by means of which the front end of the spring may besecured in the position last mentioned, or as shown in Fig. 1, so thatin drawing the hammer back the said front end of the spring will notrise or act upon the ratchet. \Vhen the front end of the spring is thuskept down by the thumb-screw, the carrier may be revolved freely bymanipulating it with the fingers for the purpose of cleaning orrecharging it.

In like manner the thumb-screw may be set when the hammer is atfull-cock and the spring in the position shown in Fig. 2, so as toconfine the spring in that position and prevent the carrier fromrevolvin The arm may thus be used as a single-loader,

as the same groove in the carrier will be kept permanently in line withthe barrel till the spring H is again released by turning thethumb-screw.

The front end of thepiston is provided with a hook, h, for retractingthe cartridge, and in the bottom of each cartridge-bed is a narrowgroove, 0, for said hook to run in.

There is an open space, j, between the magazine or cylindrical case Band the barrel, completel y separating the barrel, in which thecartridge is exploded, from the magazine. This affords a protectionagainst fouling and premature explosion of cartridges in the magazine incase of bursting of the cartridge-flange, as may sometimes occur.

The revolving carrier or magazine is charged with cartridges by droppingthem successively hrongh the opening cl as the carrier is revolved, thehammer standing at full -cock. hen the carrier is completely charged thecover is shut down and fastened. The gun may then be fired as rapidly asit can be cocked and snapped until all the cartridges are exhausted. Asthe hammer goes down it pushes the piston forward, its head being allthe time pressed firmly against the rear end of the piston, and as thehammer completes its blow it is in a position to receive the recoil ofthe piston, and present a firm and secure resistance thereto. The pistonpushes the cartridge before it into the barrel, and, just as thecartridge is fairly pushed home, the hammer, in completing its stroke,drives the percussion-bar 0 forward and explodes the fnlminate. As thehammer is drawn back the hook h, seizing the empty cartridge shell byits flange, draws it back into the same bed from which it has beenpushed forward, and at the instant when the front end of the pistonpasses back of the rear end of the carrier the spring H throws thecarrier suddenly forward, so as to bring a fresh cartridge in line withthe bar: rel, while the empty shell is moved on the same distance. V

The gun may be discharged at the half or at the full cook; but todischarge it at the half-cock the hammer must first be drawn back to thefull-cock to withdraw the piston so that the carrier can revolve. Thehammer may then be let down slowly, pushing the cartridge into thebarrel, and may afterward be drawn back to the half-cock when it isdesired to discharge the gun.

It is manifest that my invention is applicable to single-shooters aswell as repeaters. In-

stead of a revolving carrier there may be a single stationary bed forthe cartridge, and thus by means of the same mechanism, slightlymodified, a good single-shooting breech-1oadin g gun may be produced.

Having thus fully described my invention, and the several modes ofcarrying it into effect, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-- 1. The combination of the revolving carrier, thepiston, the hammer, and the connectinglink G, arranged and operatingsubstantially as described.

2. I also claim' the inclined plane 1: on the end of the piston, incombination with the inclined plane a on the head of the hammer, to lockthe hammer, as described, whether used in combination with a revolvingcarrier or a stationary cartridge-bed.

3. I also claim the double-acting spring H, constructed and arranged asdescribed, in combination with the ratchet'wheel E and the eccentricslot 8, as and for the purpose described.

4. In combination with the double-acting spring H, the ratchet-wheel E,and the ec-' centric slot s, I also claim the thumb-screw i, as and forthe purpose described.

5. I also claim connecting each end of the mainspring to the hammer by aseparate stir rup, arranged and operating as described.

6. Ia combination with the cylindrical case B and its cover (I, I alsoclaim the yielding spring 0, as and for the purpose described.

SYLVESTER H. ROPER.

Witnesses:

HENRY F. HILLs, WILLIAM H. MORSE.

